T-M-I from T-I-M

Poetry: How I'm feeling

Blessings received each moment assures us
We are connected to a loving creator

Grace that flows through us when we connect
Proves our feelings, not thoughts, are eternal

Joy that we share in the light of our smiles
Shines on our paths all headed to God

Love freely given because we’re all similar
Opens the doors to our hearts and our souls

The truth is we only have this blessed moment
The past and the future mean nothing right now

I am grateful for you
I am grateful for us
I am grateful for God
Thank God we can feel it

St. Francis' Prayer for Peace

I've posted this before, but hey how can it hurt to post it again?  St. Francis rocks!!!:

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace
That where there is hatred, I may bring love
That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness
That where there is discord, I may bring harmony
That where there is error, I may bring truth
That where there is doubt, I may bring faith
That where there is despair, I may bring hope
That where there are shadows, I may bring light
That where there is sadness, I may bring joy
Lord grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted
To understand than to be understood
To love than to be loved
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven
It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life
Amen

It is so beautiful it makes my soul leap.  I've started taking it line by line every day as a way to guide my life.  Today is line two "That where there is hatred I may bring love".  I find this daily exercise a great way to keep me present and selfless.

Today I'm intending for you to feel the love, peace and grace of God.

Love,

Tim

Linguistically expansive

I met a new friend yesterday and I asked her what her favorite words are.  Mine, of course are serendipity, myopic and reticence.  She has, I guess I would say, an unabridged vocabulary.  She sent me a bunch of words she likes and I decided to write a poem with them.  I may have misused a few of them, but they were fun to learn!

Linguistically expansive

Cumulonimbus reaching up to the heavens
The marmoset bounced into the meadow with alacrity
Verisimilitude blind to what could be pernicious

Endeavoring to inveigle his pachyderm pal
Perspicacity saved his bud from credulity
Peaceful not bellicose, avoiding the hyacinths

The rambunctious marmoset stopped and filliped
He cleared his throat of the phlegm and declared
Let’s avoid what’s sebaceous and get to the point

You’re right my dear elephant, trunks aren’t just for trees

Poetry: Acutally I don't know

Actually, I don’t know

If it’s totally clear and eternally true,
why is it so hard to see and understand?

If it connects us and is abundantly powerful,
why are we divided and live life in such weakness?

If we got it as infants and will get it at death,
why do we choose to forget in between?

If we all are deemed worthy and all are invited,
why do we choose to exclude and pass judgment?

If love is eternal and grace is available,
why do we think that it would ever desert us?

Means to an end

I've been reading the political machinations lately and am certain we're no closer to harmony than we were before.  I remembered a poem that came through me a while ago and thought I would share it:

 

Means to an end

Using sound reason it’s hard to explain
To someone who I know instinctively gets it
Using good logic it’s tough to believe
In someone who I think apparently doesn’t

The means that ultimately we decide to employ
Should not be in conflict with the end we desire
No matter how many times I have considered it
I always conclude that they must be consistent

I’m not trying to boldly pick a new battle
But I know that real peace does not come from war

I’m not one who claims to know what it means
But truth does not spring from a river of lies

I’m one who will question my kindness in action
And I’m certain that love does not start with hate

I’m willing to say I was bad when I hit
Hitting is never for anyone’s own good

I’m peaceful in knowing that I can be trusting
Restrictions don’t help in becoming trustworthy

I’m not the world’s smartest but I understand
Teaching conformity does not help us learn

I’m imperfect but intend to live life full of spirit
I pray that religions will all lead to God

I’m mostly wide open to new points of view
Judgment will close my door to compassion

The words that came through me today I would hope
Will not be considered as if I desire
An end that does anything other than connect
Enduring because of the use of true means

Using our souls to look we will see
A moment where all of us finally get it
Using our present as an end we can see
The means that we choose in the future must change

It feels a bit lonely

If I am connected, in tune with my self,
why does it matter what anyone else does?
Because it feels like connection means I live life alone.

If all that I say seems to sound unfamiliar,
why should I speak it again and again?
Because it feels like discussions are actually monologues.

If I'm certain to stray from my path in the future,
why shouldn't I keep on straying away?
Because it feels like I'm normal when indeed I do stray.

If I feel things that never can be understood,
why shouldn't I think and fit in with the logic?
Because it feels like I'm tired of hurting my feelings.

Poetry: Never say never

Never say never

I never considered sharing with you the way that you changed the way that I live

I never admitted to anyone else how the things that you did have affected my life

I never repeated the things that you said but I sound more like you each day that I live

I never recovered from the times that you hit me when you taught me that all this was for my own good

I never discovered that it all was much different when I do I bet that I still will defend you

I never desired much more than your love without it I sometimes would rather not live

I never required perfection from you; a compassionate moment would suit me just fine

I always cry hardest when I yearn for you deepest I’ll never give in and believe you don’t love me

Just a small taste

Just a small taste was all I was give
A brief and savory promise again
Just when I’d finally accepted the blandness
The juice of amor dripped onto my tongue

Just enough to get my attention
Enough to convince me to open my heart
Just why I ignored I was walking with blindness
Is something I honestly just can’t explain

Just like sweet honey straight from the hive
It made me forget how it feels to be stung
Just who needs to offer forgiveness
Is an issue I wish we’d never discuss

Just a small taste will work in the future
No matter how many times I say that it won’t
Just where and when I’ll be at the time
Will have little impact when my tastebuds explode

My friend pain

I wrote this tonight for people I know who are going through pain.

My friend pain 

Just when I think I’ve left it for good
The next thing I know it’s back in my mind
As it makes its way back into my life
I let other people convince me it’s real

It’s my long time companion I refer to as pain
It seems like I’ve known it all of my life
As it takes away all the joy from my life
I seem to find others who know how I feel 

My whole body slumps and embraces the pain
I say I want freedom but live like I don’t
Present and future resemble the past
I open up wounds that never quite heal

Pain’s dirty trick is it always is looking
For more pain to feed on and tighten its grip
I become the helpless prey to the python
I dance to samsara, riding its wheel

Advice or solutions tightens pain’s grip
No company needed inside of my misery
I need to discover my light on my own
I’m tired of the hurt that I have to conceal

There’s something inside me that I can’t quite shake
It’s this feeling that I once lived life without pain
I feel it and feel how the pain starts to panic
Pain knows that I will renege on our deal

The time will arrive when I bid sweet adieu
Without any sorrow pain finally leaves
I always have choice in each moment in life
Love shows me how pain has little appeal

It's going to get tricky

I wrote this today as I contemplated how tricky it will become for me to love myself and be the best father I can be for my darling light, Zoe.

It’s going to get tricky

I remember how careful I was with your head
when you were an infant and I picked you up.

It mostly required me not to be clumsy

I shifted my focus to your swollen tummy
when I had to ensure that you let out your burp.

Patience and hands that were firm did the trick

Not that much later it was food that was solid
a milestone that quickly became a big risk

I had to watch all the things you and I fed you

The next thing I know you’re walking, not crawling
I needed to be one step quicker than you.

My mind and my body were both now important.

I realize from now on it’s mostly your feelings
and whether you feel you’re expressed.

Success will require both love and compassion.